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I have a lot of time and respect for MIke Trace, not just for his work as CEO of RAPT, but also as Chair of the International Drug Policy Consortium. How he manages to do so much I’ll never know.
It was therefore with great anticipation that I read his DDN article on RAPt’s Island Day Programme. This is a structured 12-step day programme in Tower Hamlets, with a client base which is very much multi-national.
There are three phases to the programme.
The first phase looks at enhancing motivation, preparation for treatment and induction, and takes up to eight weeks.
The primary phase involves group work – apart from the individual counselling sessions – and lasts at least 12 weeks. Sixteen facilitated groups a week include group therapy, working through steps one to three, lectures, workshops, health education, and activities.
Phase three is aftercare, a part-time support group for up to 12 months. This covers relapse prevention, recovery based workshops, and housing and ETE (education, training, employment) support.
The project also facilitates meetings for clients who wish to invite and involve their family members or significant others in their recovery programme.
The project has admitted over 200 participants, 49 per cent of whom have been from ethnic minority communities. A total of 79 had graduated by the end of April 2009.
Whilst RAPt have not conducted a long-term follow-up of clients as yet, they are very pleased by progress. Knowing Mike Trace well, he would not be writing so positively unless he thought the project had started well and was making a positive difference.
Well done all in the project and Tower Hamlets DAT for commissioning the programme.
As MIke points out, there are not enough abstinence-based structured day care programmes around the country. Projects that help people find recovery in their own community.
If you are part of such a programme – as participant, staff member or volunteer – then let us know more!
Like you David, I loved this article. There is a large amount of overlap with our own progamme. The structure and format is very similar as are the numbers coming through treatment. We learned a lot in setting up LEAP from Steve Spiegel and his team at Providence Projects in Bournemouth.
We have six evidenced-based interventions in our LEAP programme:
Physical and mental health assessment and treatment
Psychotherapy
Housing (supported accommodation for most of our clients in treatment)
Vocational training (readying people for education, training or employment)
Mutual Aid (connecting people actively with the local recovery community)
Aftercare (for up to two years post treatment)
All this takes place within a structured programme with packed days for clients (and staff!)
We’ll publish our outcome study later this year, but it is looking good and I would encourage every treatment area to develop structured day programmes which offer clients ways to achieve recovery using evidence-based interventions.
Dave, I read the article when the magazine arrived this Monday and was warmed to read the success of an experiment set up in 2006, it just shows how there are genuine hard working individuals like Mike Trace who know what quality of treatment is required for those wishing recovery.
He is very inspirational and I like the 3 stage phases to the programe ending I feel most importantly with the aftercare which is sadly so over looked in many services.
Best Wishes to you and all.
The article in the DDN earlier in the year was inspiring and was also met with a touch of envy by many of us in Dudley who have been so keen to develop a structured day programme… skipping the politics in between.. the service provider in Dudley has changed(july09), CRi won the tender and our service users will finally have access to a day programme. I have the the privelege and challenge of being the lead on this… and I cant even begin to detail how exciting that is.. and daunting too…
The success of the RAPt programme is inspiring and I cant help but feel I found wired in.. at just the right time.
Top tips are welcome all the same!
